Anti-HIV-1 Activity of Lignans from the Fruits of Schisandra rubriflora

This study investigated the 70% aqueous acetone extract of the fruits of Schisandra rubriflora which led to the isolation of eight lignans, including a new isolate, rubrisandrin C (1), and seven known lignans (2-8). The structure of 1 was established by extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and its absolute stereochemistry was determined by CD spectrum. Compounds 1-5 and 7-8 were evaluated for their anti-HIV-1 activity that showed inhibitory activity on HIV-1(IIIB) induced syncytium formation with EC50 values in the range of 2.26 similar to 20.4 mu g/mL. Compounds 1 and 7 exerted their obvious protection of HIV-1(IIIB) inducted MT-4 host cells lytic effects with a selectivity index of 15.4 and 24.6, respectively.

Anti-HIV Actions of 7- and 10-Substituted Camptothecins (vol 15, pg 138, 2010)

The authors thank the anonymous reviewer for helpful comments on the early version of the manuscript. This work was financially supported by the earmarked fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System, the Science Fund for Young Scholars in Sichuan Province (Grant No: ZQ 026-017), and the National 863 Project of China (No. 2008AA101001).

Alpha-momorcharin inhibits HIV-1 replication in acutely but not chronically infected T-lymphocytes

AIM: To identify the anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) activities of alpha-momorcharin ( alpha-MMC) from Momordica charantia in acutely and chronically infected lymphocytes. METHODS: The anti-HIV activities of alpha-MMC were examined by 1) the inhibition of syncytia formation induced by HIV-1 III B; 2) reduction of p24 core antigen expression level and decrease in numbers of HIV antigen positive cells in acutely and chronically infected cultures. The cytotoxic effects of alpha-MMC was tested by trypan blue dye exclusion or colorimetric MTT assay. RESULTS: alpha-MMC was found to obviously inhibit HIV-1 III B-inducing C8166 syncytia formation and markedly reduced both expression of p24 core antigen and the numbers of HIV antigen positive cells in acutely but not chronically HTV-1-infected culture. The median effective concentration (EC50) in these assays were 0.016, 0.07, and 0.32 mg.L-1, respectively. CONCLUSION: alpha-MMC is a unique component of momorcharin with anti-HIV activity, and markedly inhibited HIV-1 replication in acutely but not chronically HIV-1-infected T-lymphocytes.

An improved microtiter assay for evaluating anti-HIV-I neutralizing antibodies from sera or plasma

Background: The anti-HIV-1 neutralizing antibody assay is widely used in AIDS vaccine research and other experimental and clinical studies. The vital dye staining method applied in the detection of anti-HIV-1 neutralizing antibody has been used in many laboratories. However, the unknown factor(s) in sera or plasma affected cell growth and caused protection when the tested sera or plasma was continuously maintained in cell culture. In addition, the poor solubility of neutral red in medium (such as RPMI-1640) also limited the use of this assay. Methods: In this study, human T cell line C8166 was used as host cells, and 3-(4,5-Dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)- 2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) instead of neutral red was used as vital dye. In order to avoid the effect of the unknown factor( s), the tested sera or plasma was removed by a washout procedure after initial 3 - 6 h culture in the assay. Result: This new assay eliminated the effect of the tested sera or plasma on cell growth, improved the reliability of detection of anti-HIV-1 neutralizing antibody, and showed excellent agreement with the p24 antigen method. Conclusion: The results suggest that the improved assay is relatively simple, highly duplicable, cost-effective, and well reliable for evaluating anti-HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies from sera or plasma.

Recombinant protein of heptad-repeat HR212, a stable fusion inhibitor with potent anti-HIV action in vitro

HR212, a recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli, has been previously reported to inhibit HIV-1 membrane fusion at low nanomolar level. Here we report that HR212 is effective in blocking laboratory strain HIV-1IIIB entry and replication with EC50 values of 3.92±0.62 and 6.59±1.74 nM, respectively, and inhibiting infection by clinic isolate HIV-1KM018 with EC50 values of 44.44±10.20 nM, as well as suppressing HIV-1- induced cytopathic effect with an EC50 value of 3.04±1.20 nM. It also inhibited HIV-2ROD and HIV-2CBL-20 entry and replication in the μM range. Notably, HR212 was highly effective against T20-resistant strains with EC50 values ranging from 5.09 to 7.75 nM. Unlike T20, HR212 showed stability sufficient to inhibit syncytia formation in a time-of-addition assay, and was insensitive to proteinase K digestion. These results suggest that HR212 has great potential to be further developed as novel HIV-1 fusion inhibitor for treatment of HIV/ AIDS patients, particularly for those infected by T20-resistant variants.

N-(间硝基苯磺酰)-6-甲基吲哚体外抗HIV 活性及作用机制研究

本论文对12个N-（取代苯磺酰）吲哚类化合物体外抗HIV活性进行了初步筛选，并选择其中活性最好的化合物N-（间硝基苯磺酰）-6-甲基吲哚，对其抗HIV 活性及作用机制进行深入研究。一、体外检测了12个N-（取代苯磺酰）吲哚类化合物对C8166和MT-4细胞的毒性、对HIV-1IIIB 感染C8166后诱导的合胞体形成的抑制及对HIV-1IIIB感染MT-4 细胞后的保护作用。结果发现多个化合物具有抑制HIV-1复制活性，特别是化合物N-（间硝基苯磺酰）-6-甲基吲哚，其对HIV-1IIIB诱导的合胞体形成的EC50和TI （Therapy index）值分别为0.26 μg/ml和543.78；对HIV-1IIIB急性感染的MT-4细胞也有很好的保护作用（TI值为104.23)。二、选择活性最强的化合物N-（间硝基苯磺酰）-6-甲基吲哚进行深入的抗 HIV活性研究。在细胞水平上，通过观察致感染细胞病变和HIV-1 p24抗原表达抑制实验（ELISA方法），采用3类多株HIV病毒株（实验株、临床分离株、耐药株）和3类多种细胞（人T淋巴细胞传代株、HIV-1慢性感染人T淋巴细胞株、人外周血单个核细胞）对化合物进行体外抗HIV活性进行系统评价，实验结果表明，化合物对不同来源的HIV-1病毒株都显示出很好抗HIV活性。同时，我们也研究了化合物抗HIV-2活性，发现该化合物并不能抑制HIV-2在C8166细胞中复制。三、在细胞毒性实验上，我们检测了N-（间硝基苯磺酰）-6-甲基吲哚对不同的细胞系和人外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）毒性作用，结果显示化合物的细胞毒性较低。四、在作用机制和靶点研究上，检测了化合物对感染与未感染细胞之间融合的抑制、对HIV-1急性感染C8166细胞及对HIV-1慢性感染H9细胞（H9/HIV-1IIIB）中病毒复制的阻断作用。结果显示，N-（间硝基苯磺酰）-6-甲基吲哚对急性感染细胞有很好抑制作用（EC50为0.52 μg/ml）；但对感染与未感染细胞的融合（EC50为 46.40 μg/ml）和慢性感染H9细胞中病毒的复制没有抑制作用（EC50大于100 μg/ml）。提示化合物作用于HIV侵入细胞后到HIV DNA整合前这一阶段。其后对HIV-1逆转录酶活性的抑制情况进行了分析，发现N-（间硝基苯磺酰） -6-甲基吲哚对HIV-1逆转录酶（RT）有很好抑制作用。五、构效关系分析。我们对12 个N-（取代苯磺酰）吲哚类化合物进行了初步的构效关系研究，发现在N-benzenesulfonyl 环上连接一个吸电子基团(nitro group)比供电子基团(methyl group)有更强的抗HIV 活性，但当在indoles 环上连接吸电子基团(nitro group)，抗HIV 活性反而受到抑制。以上实验数据显示N-（间硝基苯磺酰）-6-甲基吲哚是一个安全有效的抗 HIV-1 候选化合物，具有进一步研究价值。

The chemical resolution of racemic cis-2-hydroxymethyl-5(cytosine-1 '-yl)-1,3-oxathiolane (BCH-189)-one direct method to obtain lamivudine as anti-HIV and anti-HBV agent

Racemic cis-BCH-189 can be resolved to (-)-enantiomer (lamivudine) and (+)-enantiomer by esterification of cis-2-hydroxymethyl-5-(N-4(')-acetylcytosine-1'-yl)-1,3-oxathiolane and (+)-menthyl chloroformate in CH3CN with pyridine as base. The two diastereomers of ester were seperated by recrystallization in methanol at 0degreesC. Lamivudine was obtained by deprotection of (-)-diastereomer with high yield.

Tetra-end-linked oligonucleotides forming DNA G-quadruplexes: a new class of aptamers showing anti-HIV activity.

The biophysical and biological properties of unprecedented anti-HIV aptamers are presented. The most active aptamer (1L) shows a significant affinity to the HIV protein gp120.

New anti-HIV aptamers based on tetra-end-linked DNA G-quadruplexes: effect of the base sequence on anti-HIV activity.

This communication reports on the synthesis and biophysical, biological and SAR studies of a small library of new anti-HIV aptamers based on the tetra-end-linked G-quadruplex structure. The new aptamers showed EC(50) values against HIV-1 in the range of 0.04-0.15 µM as well as affinities for the HIV-1 gp120 envelope in the same order of magnitude